The present invention relates generally to finished belts, belt straps and belt buckles and, more particularly, to such belts, straps and buckles which are inexpensively fabricated from plastic and yet simulate expensive leather materials.
U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 276,677, filed Nov. 28, 1988, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,828 (hereinafter the "parent patent"), discloses an all-plastic belt strap which, to a remarkable degree simulates the appearance of an expensive belt strap made of leather at only a slight fraction of the cost. Traditionally, belts have been manufactured utilizing relatively expensive surface materials (such as leather) which were double laminated to a belt filler and belt backing, then cut and sewed by skilled personnel. The manufacturing process often incorporated intensive hand-labor applications, as well as conventional belt-making machinery, to dome, "feather edge," paint sides, punch holes, staple loops and rivet hardware directly to the straps.
The all-plastic belt strap described in the parent patent provides superior aesthetics, dramatically increased production capabilities, impeccable quality standards, and fixed costs independent of the levels of applied labor and/or intricate stitching, expensive reptile or other exotic surface detail, and custom color or style selection, all of which may be faithfully reproduced. Nonetheless, the all-plastic belt strap described in the parent patent has not proven to be entirely satisfactory in use for at least two basic reasons.
First, the finish (i.e., the transparent-colored lacquer or paint) that is applied to the surface of the molded belt strap during the finishing operation is preferably applied to a strap that is substantially lighter in color than the finish. This is necessary in order to contrast the high/low surface relief on the strap by "puddling" the finish into the "valleys" of the relief in order to obtain a darker, more opaque color to contrast with the "hills" of the relief, which typically retain only a thin coat of the transparent finish. The light color (typically bone) bleeds through the thin coating of the finish on the hills and thereby further accents the high/low surface relief. After the strap is finished and the appropriate color achieved, the backing of the belt remains the light base color because it is not covered by the finish. This light color backing of the belt strap is undesirable from an aesthetic point of view, particularly when the finished front or face color is dark (for example, brown or black). In such a case, a dark color backing (for example, brown or black) would be most desirable as it would give the strap a more uniform and realistic leather appearance. Additionally, the presence of a dark color backing would make any embossing (e.g., leather graining) on the backing more discernable.
Second, when holes are punched into the belt strap in order to form the belt holes, the very top surface of the strap defining the belt hole circumference is dark (because of the thin film of special finish thereon), but all of the circumference defining the belt hole therebelow (i.e., from just below the finished top surface to the backing) is of the light color of the base material (e.g., bone). Thus, the appearance of the belt holes lacks an aesthetically satisfying uniformity and is indeed suggestive of an artificial manufacture rather than genuine leather. Preferably substantially the entire surface of the belt strap defining the belt hole should be of a simple color which is generally the same color as the belt backing.
Both of these problems--an undesirable belt backing color and an undesirable punch-hole color--have limited acceptability of the all-plastic belt strap.
Conventionally, belt buckles have been made of a solid metal, wood or plastic covered with either a piece of genuine leather or a synthetic leather such as polyurethane- or polyvinylchloride-coated fabric. The genuine or synthetic leather is stretched over the front or face of a foam of metal, wood or plastic and hand pasted, sewed, and/or crimped around the form. An additional piece of genuine or synthetic leather is typically glued onto the back of the buckle to give it a crushed-leather look. If these buckles are laminated, they tend to delaminate and be easily damaged. From an aesthetic point of view, the genuine or synthetic leather material used to coat the form may so vary from the color of the leather strap that, even when they are both lacquered with the same finish, they fail to match identically, as necessary to provide a desirably uniform finished appearance.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a leather-like all-plastic belt strap having a dark color backing.
Another object is to provide such a belt strap having a substantially uniform belt hole color (that is, substantially the entire surface of the belt strap defining the belt hole is of a single color) which is generally the same color as the belt backing.
A further object is to provide a leather-like plastic belt buckle which does not require lamination, gluing or crimping of a fabric onto a form.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a belt having such a belt buckle and belt strap with matching colors.